Tanker filling apparatus



United States Patent Inventor Theodor Josef Maria l-lohlbaum 52 St. George's Road, lli'ord, England Appl. No. 712,659 Filed March 13,1968 Patented Dec. 8, 1970 Priority April 5, 1967 Great Britain No. 15737/67 TANKER FILLING APPARATUS 4 Claims, 3 Drawing Figs.

US. Cl. 141/104,

l4l/284: 222/538 lnt.Cl. B65b 1/04, B65b 3/04 Field ofSearch 141/387,

104 284, 332, 333, 231, 232,234; 222/(lnquired), 129, 144.5, 525, 537, 538, 535; 2 l4/(lnquired), l7; 239/(lnquired) [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,261,986 4/1918 White ZZZ/144.5 2,685,393 8/1954 Thompson. 222/1445 3,241,720 3/1966 Barney L ZZZ/144.5 3,439,912 4/1969 Berger... ZZZ/144.5

Primary Examiner-Houston S. Bell, Jr. AttorneyAlexander & Dowell TANKER FILLING APPARATUS This invention relates to tanker filling apparatus. Rail tanker wagons are usually loaded through filling pipes lowered from above into the tanker through a loading hatch or manhole. Often several pipes are used to prevent contamination if different products are to be loaded at one loading bay. The accurate positioning of the tanker beneath the selected product filling pipe, or alternatively the accurate alinement of a selected filling pipe with the rail tanker hatch is a difficult problem to which no entirely satisfactory solution is yet availay a plurality of filling pipes and is so shaped as to guide each of the pipes as it is lowered to a common supply position.

The invention will now be further described by way of example with reference .to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of one form of tanker filing ap' paratus made in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a modification thereof; and

FIG. 3 shows a plan view of part of the apparatus.

A tanker has a manhole 11 through the tanker to be filled. A rail ranker is shown but the invention is equally applicable to road tankers. An overhead bridge or gantry 12 carries a guide device in the form of a funnel 113. The funnel has its lower end 15 located with its axis in a predetermined filling position. The lower end has a diameter only large enough to permit easy sliding passage therethrough of a'supply pipe.

A plurality of supply pipes 16 are mounted above the funnel in any suitablemanner so that they can be raised and lowered, e.g. they may be telescopic in known manner. These pipes or at least the lower portions thereof are, however, flexible.

The pipes are mounted so that in their raised positions they I are offset from the supply axis. The upper end of the funnel l3 is large enough to receive each of the pipes in their offset positions. As each pipe is lowered it is guided by the funnel from its offset position to the supply axis position.

Thus the pipes do not need to be mounted on a sliding carriage.

The funnel maybe fixed or may be mounted for vertical movement with the object of bringing the lower end of the funnel down into the manhole 11 to avoid any inadvertent dis placement of the, lower end of the supply pipe. For example the funnel may be mounted in slides. in the gantry and/or may be guided byrollers 19 and may be provided with a rack 20 operated by pinion 21 driven and controlled by any suitable means.

In the modification shown in FIG. 2 the guide device instead of being a funnel, is in the form of a series of rollers 23 and/or guide plates 24.

FIG. 3 shows in plan view a funnel 13 having its lower end 15 at the supply axis and four supply pipes 16 mounted in offset positions within the area of the upper end of the funnel so that each of them may be lowered and guided to the supply axis.

lclaim:

1. A tanker filling apparatus having a guide device and a plurality of flexible pipes located above the guide device and movable upwards and downwards, said guide device being large enough at its upper end to receive each of the pipes, said guide device being smaller at its lower end than at its upper end, the smaller end being located in the required liquid supply position, said pipes when raised being offset from said position, said pipes being deflected by the guide as they are lowered so as to be brought into the supply position.

2. An apparatus a claimed in claim 1 wherein the device is in the form of a funnel.

3. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the device is in the form of an assembly of rollers.

4. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the device is in the form of an assembly of guide plates. 

